In May 2017, Creative Matters President and Founder Carol Sebert announced the appointment of Ali McMurter and Ana Cunningham as partners. For those who have not had the fortune to work with her, this blog post is an opportunity to get to know Ali in her own words.

Field Law is a Calgary firm that needed four large new rugs for elevator lobbies and a seating area for their head office downtown. Designer Asma Zalzala researched our collections online and then consulted with Calgary's House of Persian Rugs (HPR) to see the designs in person and to discuss customization.

Do you feel like exploring the most intriguing pieces that shaped Creative Matters in 2017? Then look no further than this list of some of our designers' favourites which run the gamut from a 36-foot (11-metre) residential runner to a wall hanging for an airport to a corporate rug sprayed with mustard yellow.

While most of our studio work consists of handknotted, handtufted or machine made floorcoverings, Senior Designer Sandra Ciganic-McKinney has been heading up a project developing a new type of area rug that is essentially a handtufted, zero pile rug with a screen printed field.

When New York-based Janson Goldstein needed a custom wallcovering for their boutique client The Westside this summer, they knew who to ask as we worked together last year on floor and wallcoverings for Canadian luxury retailer Holt Renfrew. For the wallcovering, our direction was a design that had both a California beach vibe and a modern finish to reflect the luxury goods on offer.

We don't often talk about refreshing an existing design, yet it is a service we provide regularly. Wear and tear is the most common reason to revamp but other reasons include wanting to upgrade the look of the space; managing a new floor configuration or furniture layout; aiding in noise reduction; or reducing the dirt and moisture that gets tracked into a building.

Creative Matters will proudly launch two new versatile rug collections at The Rug Show in New York (September 10 - 13). Arashi and Architexture, like all our collections, are made of wool and silk in Nepal using the timeless technique of handknotting.

As our clients know from their own experiences, business rolls smoothly when a solid team operates behind the limelight of the designers. In our case this is Director of Finance Jane Addie, Manager of Logistics Julie Baldwin and Administrative Assistant Adwoa Agyemfra.